CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY DR. E. C. BRAGG - Trinity College

Definition: Psychology is from the Greek, "psuche" or soul and Logos, or discourse or
study. Biblical Psychology is the description and explanation of man's spiritual, psychical, and
physical constitution, by creation, the fall and redemption from the Holy Scriptures. That is
what he was in the original creation, what he is by reason of the fall, or the presence of sin in his
members, and what God makes of him in regeneration. It should be very patent, at least to the
Bible scholar, that there can be no understanding of the science of Man's spiritual and psychical
makeup, no real understanding of why he thinks and acts as he does, no real understanding of
the emotional and mental crackups, and enslavement to all kinds of evil and immoral habits
without taking into consideration the fact of his fallen nature. To the Christian, it is clear that
there can be no permanent complete cure for man's psychological ills outside of the "new
creation" in Christ Jesus. All man-made cures are but panaceas, which treat symptoms and leave
the original disease to carry on its dread plague.
II. Introduction
A. The Need of a Course in Christian Psychology (Primarily for Preachers)
A systematic study of psychology as revealed by the Word of God and the findings of
psychology will enlarge, clarify, and classify the vast array of native psychology that most
of us have in varying degrees. We say, "Native" for much of our knowledge of both our
own and of other personalities comes to us without any conscious effort to be
psychologists, but rather from three sources:
1. Just from daily living and contacts with others. In the daily give and take, in the
daily adjustments we must make, there grows an elementary accumulation of
psychological data, whether we use any scientific terminology for it or not.
2. There is the natural accentuation of psychological knowledge on the part of the
preacher as he is called upon to deal with people's problems, skid counseling them.
3. There is the inner wisdom given the God-called preacher by the Holy Spirit usually
immediately as the need arises. The preacher is not a self-appointed counselor or
minister. He is anointed of the Holy Spirit, if God called him, and he has the gifts of the
Spirit as well as the Spirit's administration and guidance. This inner revelation by the
Spirit is not lost after the immediate need is over, but becomes a permanent part of our
mental and spiritual furnishing. How often have I noted how remarkably the Spirit will
give us in the very hour we need it most the exact insight and counsel for the hour, but
more, yet, my own mental and spiritual life was enriched thereby, and my future
ministry enlarged!
A mentally awake preacher cannot go through 40 years of preaching, praying,
counseling, dealing with human problems and their cures without gaining some insight
into the mental, emotional, and spiritual makeup of folks. All kinds of human problems
are brought to him. Every sermon he preaches is to stir up a psychical response of some
kind in his hearers and leaves him enriched by the process of channeling it, so whether he
wills or not, he becomes involuntarily a psychologist of varying degree; i.e., a student of
human nature. It is amazing how often the faithful shepherd can judge the spiritual